Pebbles - a Latter Day Tale

Updated on June 10, 2013

Once upon a time there was a young man…a boy…You decide whether he was a boy or a man, as this little story unfolds.

The boy lived, as most do in fairy stories, on the edge of a great forest. In the forest he would go walking every day. On the path through the forest there were many pebbles. The boy would pick up one here… one there… look at them, and perhaps admire them for a short time…even put one or two in his pockets; but always, at the end of his walk he would either throw them away, or lose them. Most of the pebbles were nice to look at and to hold… but only for a short time.

One day, the boy… or man… saw a pebble as usual. He picked it up and thought it looked nice, and so he put it in his pocket. And there it stayed, and although he looked at it often, for some reason he really didn’t see it properly. You see, this was no ordinary pebble… it was a precious stone, but the boy, for some reason couldn’t see that… Perhaps he was a little blind.

And so he kept it in his pocket but eventually neglected it so much that the special pebble decided one day that it would leave… so it crept out of his pocket and ran away... or rolled away… to a distant land where nothing ever happened. It was the greatLandofBoredom… (Sometimes known as Carshalton)

But although it was a special pebble, a precious stone, even she (Did I say, SHE?) couldn’t stand living in theLand ofBoredom. So she returned to the place where the boy lived. And would you believe it? One day she just happened to be lying on the path as the boy was walking by.

He saw it. But did he stop to pick her up again? No!

Did the pebble care? No!... (Oh well, just a little bit).

So every day the young man walked by and looked at the pebble, and eventually he did pick it up and turned it over in his hand… and then, after many days, as he looked as it closely, he began to realise how lovely it was.

And this time, he didn’t throw it away…. Because he knew it had Great Worth.

But neither did he put it in his pocket, and forget it was there, as he had before.

This time,realisinghow he had overlooked and almost lost this precious stone once before, he put it… her… deep in his heart, where he knew it… she… would be safe for the rest of his life.

For the rest of their lives. Insh’Allah

This little tale has a partner; the poem entitled 'How I Would Learn Your Tongue'

How I would learn your tongueWritten for two friends of mine. He a Pakistani. She a Polish girl. Neither spoke the other's language. So they conversed; made love; laid plans, in the language they shared: English. Not always well

This quick tale worked nicely for me -- especially since I'm getting married in less than 48 hours. That's probably why I jumped on hubpages to peek around despite a ludicrously busy week. Something to calm the nerves.

Yours' was one of the first places I thought to visit. Peace.

Mark Ewbie 5 years ago from Euroland

Lovely Twilight. Not often I read poetic style pages about pebbles but always happy to read yours. I enjoyed Carshalton of course...

Not up to our dizzy standards, Doug. Ha ha ha! But it was hanging around in a pile of stuff, and I thought that it would fill a gap. I have another project underway with another Hubber. When next to put your head above the parapet, I'd like you to have a look.

The very best for the wedding. I hope your jewel and you (another priceless gem!) have a wonderful day, and the rest of your lives also.

Sunnie Day 5 years ago

Very beautiful story and one we should take to heart about the ones we hold so dear. Thank you Ian..A really good story and well written as always.

Sunnie,X

attemptedhumour 5 years ago from Australia

We should heed your warning when we are tempted to spend half of our lifetime on hubpages, instead of paying more attention to other things. Precious stones need polishing constantly and go up in value as time progresses. Once you put that stone into a vault it's difficult to get it back out. Wearing it on your arm is a much more enjoyable and fulfilling experience. Nice job mate, cheers.

Actually, Marcus (to keep the classical string going) I thanked you for your comment, but I see it isn't there anymore. I thanked you, and as you mentioned Carshalton, I said something like, "At least it gives Milton Keynes a rest". Maybe Milton Keynes is a euphemism for something else to the Hub Police.

Rocky road, Marcus Ewbus; rocky road!

Mark Ewbie 5 years ago from Euroland

I can't lol because it offends, but similar sentiment. At least I came to praise you...

Oh I get it. You live in Milton Keynes, and I offended you. Sorry (Tee hee!)

Or you live in Carshalton... Hmm!

I understand, completely. I live in Norbury, which is part of Croydon, the dangerous knife wielding capital of the South East.

Nellieanna 5 years ago from TEXAS

Just for the record, I admit that I looked up Carshalton, being unfamiliar and thinking it may have some classical literary significance I should know. As it is, I now know that it's a suburb of the London Borough of Sutton and resides in the parliamentary constituency of Carshalton and Wallington, in Surrey, right?

Mark Ewbie 5 years ago from Euroland

He does that to me NellieAnna. Drops in a reference to something I have never heard of and I have to go Wiki it. Fortunately I had heard of Carshalton.

There is a well known expression, Nellie and Mark: "See Naples and die". There is another that goes, "See Carshalton and die", but for totally different reasons.

Nellieanna 5 years ago from TEXAS

Yep, Mark - he's incorrigible! But a great source of information presented in an irresistible way!! It's rather like not giving the fish but teaching how to fish, - by cleverly creating an uncontrollable need to know! haha

Ian, - in any case, that name alone gives it a kind of majestic distinction, cold soup or no. British places have such intriguing names (even if we 'mericans are accused of being hopelessly inept at pronouncing them!) - They're not like Spur, Texas or Walla Walla, Washington. I mean, - what's all that about?

Mark Ewbie 5 years ago from Euroland

Yes, I wish I'd had him as a teacher. I could write a short hub on things I have learnt from his comments. At first I was a little ashamed of my lack of knowledge. Now I just go with it.

Amanda Severn 5 years ago from UK

I had cousins in Carshalton when I was small. Luckily we all grew up, and they live in more exciting places now! I'm not sure that that the pebble of my heart is an Amethyst like the one in your picture. He's probably more of a moonstone; dreamy, with hidden depths.

Nellie, I am sitting here all pink and Piglet-like. You know the feeling that Piglet had when he had done a "Very Brave Thing" and he went pink from the tip of his nose all the way down to his toes. Your comments and those of Mark, have made me feel so lovely.

Thank you both.

We do have words that are just a trifle difficult to pronounce for the uninitiated, That is why I chose Plantagenet-Featheringstonehaugh as the surname for that deplorable Mrs Hilda Plantagenet-Featgheringstonehaugh, the owner-matron of Twilight Lawns plc.

Plantagenet is easy; it's pronounced "Plantagenet".

Featheringstonehaugh is a little more difficult... it's pronounced "Fanshaw".

I just remembered, Nellie. Our conversation concerning the "Infanta de Castille" which became the "Elephant and Castle".

If I ever publish my treatise on the Emperor Justinian who built a Palace in this part of Surrey, which he named "Norpidum sul Mare", eventually to become "Norbury-sur-Mer", I will remember both you and Mark and say that you were invaluable with your metal detectors and found that cache of Roman coins.

Mark, you have no idea what a buzz, thrill, sense of worth etc., it was for me, as a teacher, to teach someone like your good self. I should imagine you sparked all the time when in class.

As Nellie has pointed out, the work of a teacher, at least in Primary Education, shouldn't be to cram information, but to teach the child how to learn. Subtle difference, which out Education System in this country, with the National Curriculum and so forth, seems to misunderstand.

Amanda, I love you eloquent and elegant comment. It cuts through to the whole ethos of this very meagre little parable, but it makes me realise that there are, in Hubland, lovely minds and bright concepts.

Thank you.

Mark Ewbie 5 years ago from Euroland

Thanks Twilight, unfortunately I wouldn't have been a pleasure to teach. Bright perhaps, but I had a large chip on my shoulder and threw my education chances away. Do I regret it? Not sure really, it just set me back twenty years I guess. Still learning...

Snap. I was bright; a friend who did a sturdy on it said that I was most probably a "Super Gifted Child". But I did bugger all. Just scraped through on everything. Only studied for two weeks in my life. I didn't go to University, have a Dip.M after my name and that's about all.

But I was a good teacher... a profession I was forced into by my parents who had had enough of me wanting to spend most of my life at the beach... or drunk.

Unfortunately for me (!) my parents knew the Director of Education in West Australia; Uncle John pulled a few strings; ignored the fact that I appeared to be a retard, and Instant Teacher!!! And eventually I got to love it.

Mark Ewbie 5 years ago from Euroland

Nice story Twilight, thanks for sharing and I don't feel quite so much of a loser now.

Nellieanna 5 years ago from TEXAS

Bravo! :-)

Lady Wordsmith 5 years ago from Lancaster, UK

Oh, I love this Ian, it's beautiful; but with those essential little bits of humour that make a story quite your own. I love your style.

Also, I have a thing about pebbles. I love them, but only perfectly round ones (that's what I tell my kids, to stop them from filling the house with every pebble they can stuff their pockets with! Actually I secretly have my own collection of pebbles, that are perfectly imperfect - one day I might let my boys see them).